4615 Shri Ritabrata Banerjee
Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state :-
(a) whether it is a fact that the Kolkata Metro Rail commuter’s Smart Cards do not have a single word in Bangla;

(b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;

(c) whether Bengali, the language of the majority of the people of West Bengal, will be incorporated in the Kolkata Metro Railways commuters’ Smart Cards;

(d) if so, the time-bound details thereof; and

(e) if not, the reasons therefor?
ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI RAJEN GOHAIN)

(a) The present version of Smart Cards in circulation since 2011 does not have text in Bengali.

(b) When the new Automatic Fare Collection(AFC) System started its operations in 2011, the inherent complexity of usage and business rules demanded that a full side be dedicated for instructions to users. Being an integral part of the national carrier, it was mandatory to include Hindi and English following Official Language Act. Accommodating Bengali was also not feasible considering the printable content length and the miniscule print area (85 mm x 55 mm).

(c) to (d) Based on the six years of experience it is considered that the users are now fully accustomed to the instructions contained on the Smart Card. Hence, action has already been started to cut short the instructions contained to accommodate Bengali language as third language along with Hindi and English on Smart Card. The very next lot of Smart Cards will have texts in tri-lingual form i.e. in English, Hindi and Bengali, and will be made available at the booking counters from first week of May, 2018.